Human World, Japan, Kuoh.
Waking up the next morning, James had no recollection of anything that happened after dinner. He did not remember eating Shion's Valentine's Day cookie, nor did he remember the most shocking part of the evening, in his opinion, saying that something made of chocolate tasted good. Naturally, the also forgot the near death... No... His life after death experience, too.
Instead, he went to school like he usually did with the other residents of the mansion. Then, after the school day ended, he returned to the mansion. Upon stepping into the living room, he was told that Scathach and Genkai asked him to meet with them in his art studio. When he arrived, Scathach and Genkai were waiting for him in his art studio, the room in the mansion that has been recognized as James' office.
"So, you want to participate in the Dark Martial Arts Tournament?" scathach asked.
"Yes, Master." James replied with a nod.
"Why?" Scathach asked without changing her expression. "You are clearly too powerful for this tournament."
"For training." James replied solemnly. "Like I told Master Genkai, I want to use the opportunity to train myself. With the right combination of runic seals, I could train both my demonic energy and physical body immensely. Also, with both my physical strength and demonic energy capped at a certain limit, I would be able to work on my techniques as well."
Nodding in understanding, Scathach looked into James' eyes. Before nodding once again.
"So, you saw through it, huh?" James asked with a wry smile on his face.
"Yes, my disciple." Scathach replied with a small smile. "Not only do you wish to fight against people that are willing and more than happy to kill you with these restrictions, but you also want to make sure that Master Genkai's disciple remains alive at the end of all this."
"*Sigh* It would be nice if I could keep some secrets to myself, you know." James said with awry smile. "That said, I would only step in if Yusuke was really about to die. Other than that, I don't mind seeing him get the shit kicked out of him. It might even be funny to see."
Meanwhile, Genkai looked at James with a bit of gratitude. Although James did not interact much with Yusuke, in fact, he had interacted much more with her due to their video game rivalry, she could tell he appreciated the work Yusuke put into his training. Even if he complained about it every step of the way.
"Well, I don't see an issue with it, Master Genkai." Scathach said, turning to Genkai. "What about you?"
"I suppose it is fine." Genkai replied. "I will be at the venue, as well. So, I think I can remind James before he steps in too early."
Nodding in agreement, Scathach stood up and approached James.
"Let us get the seals in place, then." Scathach said, her right index finger glowing with the light of her demonic energy. "I'll place a total of three seals on you. The first and second will lower your demonic energy output and physical strength to the beginning of the intermediate–level of the high-rank. And the third will lower your durability to the peak of high-rank."
"With stats like those, I probably won't be challenged until we fight in the later rounds, right?" James asked, even though he had an idea of how the tournament should play out.
"More or less." Genkai replied. "But you shouldn't drop your guard. Those tournament organizers will do anything to see your team fail."
"Got it." James replied with a nod and a smile.
With that, Scathach continued applying the seal. However, part way through the seal's application, James felt like something was wrong.
"Um... Master, why are you putting the seal on now?" James asked curiously. "The Dark Tournament doesn't start for what...? Three weeks, right?"
Looking to Genkai for confirmation, James returned his sight to Scathach after receiving a nod in response.
"It's so that you can get used to the changes in your strength before the tournament starts." Scathach said without changing her expression.
"Master, we both know that after all the training I've been through with you that three weeks is way more than enough time for adjustments." James said with a wry smile. "Is this punishment for spending that day with Aislynn in bed instead of training with you?"
"I have no clue to what you could be referring." Scathach said without making eye contact with James.
"Master, you're really quite cute." James said with a smile.
*Smack!*
"Be silent." Scathach said without changing her expression. "Go down to the training room and begin familiarizing yourself with your strength."
"Yes ma'am." James replied with a smile, not minding the slap he received upside the head.
A moment later, as Scathach was prepared to leave the art studio as well, Genkai stood up and walked to the door. She then stopped with her back to Scathach.
"He's right, you know." Genkai said without turning around. "You really are quite cute."
After that, Genkai walked through the door, leaving Scathach speechless for the first time in quite a while.
With that, the next three weeks passed peacefully. Eventually, the day when James and Yusuke would meet the rest of the team and embark on their trip to Hanging Neck Island, where the Dark Martial Arts Tournament is held, arrived.
Human Worl, Japan, Unnamed Port.
"Have they come here to be our late night snacks?" A demon with grey skin, long horns and fangs asked while looking at the port's newest arrivals.
"Maybe they were invited to be entertainment before the tournament." A red skinned demon with a long tail said. "I mean, sharpening my claws on a human would be pretty fun."
"I'd rather make them into my slaves." a black skinned demon with no irises said with a sadistic smile on his face.
Standing in the direction where all the demons' gazes were focused were three young men. The first was a human teenager standing at 6' (approx. 1.83 m) tall with red-orange hair styled into a 1950's Elvis-style pompadour, high cheek bones, a sharp nose, narrow grey eyes, and a strong muscular build with wide shoulders wearing a blue jumper style middle school uniform.
The second was a handsome young man with bright green eyes and vibrant deep red hair that flowed down his back with two locks that draped over his shoulders. Standing at 5'7" (approx. 1.72 m) tall, he wore a white martial arts outfit with a pink sash tied at the left of his waist.
The last of the three was a short man with tall, spiky, black hair and crimson red eyes standing at 4'10" (approx. 1.47 m) tall, he has crimson red eyes and a lean muscular build. He wore a black cloak-like jacket with a white collar, black pants, and black boots that he tucked his pants into. On his waist, he wears a pair of white belts with a sword strapped to them on his back. And on his forehead, he wore a white headband.
"Where is Urameshi, if he doesn't hurry, we're gonna miss the boat." The tallest of the three said in irritation. "What are we supposed to do if he doesn't show up? Will we get disqualified?"
"If that happens, then I'll just kill everyone until they reinstate us." The shortest of the three replied.
"Have you ever wondered why you don't have any friends, Hiei?" The tallest boy replied to the shorter boy.
Instead of responding, the shortest of the three, Hiei, looked away, not even considering what the taller boy said.
"Jeez..." The tallest boy said, a bit of his nervousness shining through his annoyed expression. "Why are all these demons looking at us like that? It feels like they'll attack us at any moment."
"No need to be nervous, Kuwabara." The red-haired boy said in a gentle tone. "You've grown a lot stronger."
"Yeah, that's right." Kuwabara, the tallest of the three, said with a bit more energy than before. "But Kurama, you and Hiei really put me through the ringer, though."
Kuwabara then began to shudder at the thought of the brutal training his two companions put him through over the last three months.
"But still, I wonder what kind of new tricks Urameshi learned." Kuwabara wondered out loud. "I wonder how much stronger he got."
"If he wasted this time, I'll just have to win this tournament by myself." Hiei said, a dim glow lighting up the center of his white headband.
"You won't have to worry about that, Hiei." Yusuke said, stepping into the area with a tall caramel skin toned young man following him.
"You're finally here, Urameshi!" Kuwabara shouted.
However, before Kuwabara could approach, Hiei unsheathed his sword, moved forward at blinding speed, and began swinging it in a flurry of deadly slashes at Yusuke. Naturally, Yusuke did not allow himself to be cut, dodging all the slashes with relative ease. Then, to end this little exchange, Yusuke stopped the sword by clamping it between his fingers and thumb.
"Damn, Hiei, a simple hello would have been enough." Yusuke said with a smirk.
"At least you haven't been slacking" Hiei said, pulling his sword away and sheathing it once again.
"Seriously, I could barely even follow them." Kuwabara said with his eyes wide open.
"You should feel proud, Kuwabara." Kurama said, patting Kuwabara on the shoulder. "It's an impressive feat to even follow speeds like that with your eyes.
A moment later, everyone shifted their gazes to the young man who was walking alongside Yusuke when he arrived. The man, James, wore a black sleeveless shirt tucked into a pair of black martial arts pants with a white stripe on each leg, black shoes, and a dusk pink sash tied around his waist.
"Hey, Urameshi, is this our fifth member?" Kuwabara asked curiously. "He's even taller than me, but he doesn't seem that strong."
"If that's what you think, then you need more training, you fool." Hiei said harshly. "This man is dangerous."
"Indeed." Kurama added. "But I wonder why someone of your caliber would participate in this tournament on Yusuke's team?"
'So, if I'm guessing right, Hiei figured it out because of the eye hidden under that headband.' James thought with a smile on his face. 'While Kurama probably relied on his experience. He's an old demon, after all. But still, I'm kinda surprised neither of them realized who I am, I guess outputting the aura of someone in the high-rank makes people think that I couldn't be who I really am, huh?'
"So, who are you?" Hiei asked, glaring at James.
"Trust me, if you knew, you would probably shit yourself" James said with a smile. "For now, just call me J."
"Hmph!" Hiei snorted. "It doesn't matter who you are, The Spirit Detective and I will be enough to win this tournament."
After saying that, Hiei turned away and decided that any more speaking was pointless.
"You guys really don't need to worry about... J." Yusuke said. "he's crazy strong and definitely loyal. You can trust me on that."
"If you say so." Kuwabara said, still looking at James with skepticism. "He still doesn't look all that strong to me."
Before the conversation could go on any longer, however, a large cruise ship pulled up to the port. Then, from the ships PA system, a raspy voice could be heard.
{"The ship to Hanging Neck Island has arrived."} The raspy voice stated. {"If you're not on the ship in the next two minutes, consider yourselves disqualified."}
Heeding the voice's warning, everyone who had been waiting at the unnamed port made their way onto the ship's deck within the next two minutes. And in exactly two minutes, the ship pulled away from the port without another word. Then, the ship sailed off into the sea.
"Hanging Neck Island, that's a pretty ominous name for an island, don't you think" Kuwabara asked, looking around the ship curiously. "So, what are we supposed to do on this ship? Is there any entertainment?"
At that moment, a short, scruffy, male demon walked out from the ships wheel house. The sound his peg-leg made with every step he took drew the attention of everyone on the ships deck.
{"Good, it looks like there are no stragglers." The scruffy demon said once he noticed he had everyone's attention. "Now, allow me to introduce the special event for tonight's voyage."